Speaking of which, we should start an ice cream thread.

I've been really digging that switchup on the prechorus->chorus of Prairie Rider lately.

Not shitting on anyone's musical taste, just really pressing the issue that if you're going to defend this album, you better come with the goods. It's useless and boring as fuck to hear "well I liked it, so that's that." *especially* when traffic has been falling off like this. Especially when we've been in a downward slump for years. Now I get that there has been some comments here and there about what people appreciate about this album, and that's cool, I've read that. My exasperation is just me being really fucking disappointed and sort of blown away that people can still find significant value in most of these tracks. So you're seeing that.

I'm also going hard on this because Mare is notorious for getting rectally-aggravated when pillows fans call out Sawao for phoning it in (And as for phoning it in, holy shit, how much more proof do you need than the recent slap-job stock photo impact font album art? That sort of says all I have to say. Of course it doesn't, but, you know.). So challenging him on this issue is sort of me getting a rise out of someone who (hi, irony) doesn't like what he likes.

[quote="GoldenRhino"]Just really pressing the issue that if you're going to defend this album, you better come with the goods. It's useless and boring as fuck to hear "well I liked it, so that's that."

My exasperation is just me being really fucking disappointed and sort of blown away that people can still find significant value in most of these tracks.

I'm also going hard on this because Mare is notorious for getting rectally-aggravated when pillows fans call out Sawao for phoning it in. So challenging him on this issue is sort of me getting a rise out of someone who (hi, irony) doesn't like what he likes.[/quote]

Cool, consider yourself already warned multiple times to not troll people in this thread and enjoy a week-long timeout. You're continuing to talk down to people and just confessed to purposefully trolling. Come back when you can not be a jerk to people. As stated previously, if you were honestly interested in "understanding" why people like these things, you would not engage in these insane and childish attempts to force people to "defend" their taste to you, nor would you constantly reiterate how "disappointed" and "suspicious" and other ridiculous feelings you supposedly feel that others have different taste than you.

People like very different songs on the same albums even when they tend to list their favorite albums similarly. This should not come as a surprise to anyone, and if you truly "cannot" fathom these concepts, then you may want to take a good hard look at trying to worry less about that bit for now and first sort out why you believe your own self capable of knowing your subjective taste fairly well, yet you believe others to be merely lying to themselves (if you don't agree with their subjective taste).

I'd ask you to point out where my upset is "oh noooooo, Greyson doesn't like Moondust???," but there aren't any posts like that, because this is a one-way street of crazy going on here. Chill the heck out and try again in a few days.

Sup dudes.

So months (month? beer) later, I have to say... Still above average for their recent work. Why the hell is Trial worth any kind of a note?

Anyway, I'll write a quick story.

I fell 'out of likes' with the pillows in recent years. I damn near completely forgot about them! I don't know if it was having the kid, having a career, or the quality of their output that did it, but regardless, they just didn't really cross my perceptive barrier. I still listened to new albums as they came out. But as quickly as they came out, they faded out.

After this album's release I started listening to them damn near non-stop. I can't find the right words to compose the intended message here at the moment, so suffice to say: there's something about this album that's bringing me back. Like, a lot back.

I don't know if it's just nostalgia or what. But man, I've simply been flooded with love and respect for this band. It doesn't even make sense. I also hate them, but I'll get to that.

So I'm working on my 25th anniversary video bullshit and just kinda cruisin'. It's the pillows, right? I've only listened to them for half my life. There's something strangely comforting about Sawao's...warbling, non-sensical-ness. I put that shit behind me as I tragically lost to folks better deserving of reward than myself.

I play the new album expecting _the worst_, though to be fair, I had heard Tokai no Alice and while not as good as its fellow b-side compadre, I enjoyed it, and I was taken completely by surprise. Yes there is bullshit here. Yes we've got some generic, boppy shit. But man, listen to Sato on the fucking toms in Prairie Rider! He hasn't fucked that shit up like that since Moon is Mine-ish?

Maybe my shit is all fucked. I dunno.

But man, that leads me directly to why I hate them. These songs frequently serve to remind me of what's [i]missing[/i].

So as I'm brought back into the fold. I'm listening to the new and the old with (biased) open ears. And yes. I mean...holy shit, am I really writing this much?

The point is, these songs hint at the greatness that once was, and hopefully greatness to come. That is a really absurd point to make from the wonky bullshit that I wrote above. My alcohol tolerance just ain't what it used to be...

The end.

(This wasn't a story at all, just drunken ramblings of a man that misses old friends, hoping to find them.)

Yeah dude, Prairie Rider was basically the song from this album that grew on me and took me by surprise. I feel like each time I listen through, it sticks out more to me as just a super well-written song.

The Moondust PV actually gave me the sort of feeling you were talking about the first time I saw it, that whole "man, the pillows are awesome" thing. I think that what makes this album evoke that sensation is that it's SO quintessentially pillows: a tight, simple, punchy band with a decent breadth of sound/style and a fun/quirky coolness to them. It's catchy melodic hooks and earnest vocals with cool, crunchy guitars, tied together with some surprisingly well-nuanced-but-simple drum patterns.

I personally would love to see them do another Living Field-esque approach to layering and arranging intensively, but I don't see that as a reason to dislike Moondust. Haters gonna hate, whatever. Glad to hear a mature take to that tension between your expectations for the pillows and the experience of their recent music.

Hey everyone, guess who's back. Done with high school, done with college, in the real world, and The Pillows are still kicking.

Didn't even realize there was a new album out till like an hour ago. Giving it a listen, and most of it sounds pretty formulaic. Sure, The Pillows were always a tad formulaic, but there was a raw passion that just grabbed you and wouldn't let go.

Apart from a few song that aren't too bad, like Moondust or Anemone, I know they can do better. This album just feels like a bunch of pop-punk-rock songs with some "serious" ones thrown in for good measure. Most of these could have worked as b-sides.

I was hoping the hiatus would have given them more time to mellow out and find that spark that's been lacking for the past few years. I wouldn't say its time for them to retire, even if these guys are already in their 50's.

Throughout their discography, you can hear them growing and aging along with their music. From being early twenty-somethings, trying to mimic The Smiths, to getting into their 30's and finding that mix of young passion and age-brought wisdom, to a mid-life crisis that was happening in their 40s, trying desperately to hold onto their youth with upbeat pop-rock.

Very few bands can claim that they've stuck together for a quarter century. At this moment, I would expect the pillows to be very reflective, looking at their past, trying to build up to some kind of penultimate, and even an eventual ultimate.

How'd you feel about the B-sides for this album, out of curiosity? Are there any you would replace specific tracks from the album with?

Congrats on finishing college.

Hmm, I cant seem to find any download link to some b-sides. Got one?

The Happy Birthday single got upped track by track to mediafire (courtesy of Son Goshin I think):
Happy Birthday- http://www.mediafire.com/?jina0bunc0o0vpf
Urban Alice- http://www.mediafire.com/?o8g28iftn11q9q8
Bakugyaku quarter- http://www.mediafire.com/?n6oig731urrpyn4

The b-sides for About a Rock'n'Roll Band were the other ones you want, but I can't find the d/l link in the thread about that single (because of all the hype with the 1st/2nd movement performances, I guess); shouldn't be too hard to google up a download though. B-sides are called Pumkpin and Atrocity" and "Snoozer." Most people really liked Snoozer a lot, I think.

Here's the about a rock n roll band single. https://mega.co.nz/#F!pENBkCoa!6ffaOKCK6GtlpoMCmzxzag

Teamwork!

I didn't think this needed a new thread so I'll post it here.

http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/artist_the-pill ... ur_6494547

The setlist isn't that great, but there's a few songs I haven't seen live.

Farewell Jun Suzuki concerts, much?

Kuuchuu Resistor and Toy Doll on the same setlist. Now I've seen everything.

So, I felt like ranking the tracks on this album.

GOAT (9+ out of 10):
- "Happy Birthday"
- "About a Rock 'n' Roll Band"

Excellent (8 out of 10):
- "Moondust"
- "Clean Slate Revolution"
- "Ideal Affection"
- "Tokai no Alice"

Solid (7 out of 10):
- "Prarie Rider"
- "Break a Time Machine!"
- "Anemone"

Lame (5 and less out of 10):
- "Message"
- "Song for You"

B-sides:
- "Snoozer" (8+/10)
- "Quarter Bakugyaku no Tomo" (8+/10)
--side note: both of the above shoulda made the album--
- "Pumpkin and atrocity" (6/10)